LYF Ghana Farmer Radio Field Training

The LYF’s Cristina Talens has just arrived in Ghana, to record the first of our Farmer Radio programmes for the local communities with farmer field listening groups, set up to inform the radio content.

Chris is accompanied by representatives from CARE international in Tamale and Christian Aid based in Burkina Faso, along with the local radio presenters. Together they will work with farmer field listening groups to record the first radio programmes around farming, water, weather and health.

It will be up to the farmers to choose which of the programmes are most relevant to them to use at the relevant point of time in the agricultural calendar. This is so that the subjects remain relevant and are demand driven.

Some of the subjects which they are discussing right now, have already been allocated seasonal schedules and the broad themes that we have been using focus on Health, Sustainable Farming and Weather.

The subjects already selected to be covered are:

– Burning vegetation – why to avoid this – and the impact of slash and burn farming in the long term.

– Agrochemicals – why use, other options, what to spray and when and how to ensure personal protection

– How to retain healthy soil and moisture in the soil through the practices of conservation tillage, Contour ploughing and mulching

– The practice of crop rotation as a means to diversify and also increasing nutrients going into the ground

– How to harvest and store rice and other local crops such as maize and sorghum